I’ve been a casual fan of Patricia Briggs since back when she was a mid-lister, with When Demons Walk and The Hob’s Bargain, but after she came out with the first Mercy Thompson novel, I became a more rabid look-up-when-the-next-book-comes-out kind of fan. Silver Borne is the fifth book in the series featuring a coyote shapeshifter involved in pack, vampire, and fae intrigue and politics. Of course, you already know this if you’ve read the other books in the series, and if you haven’t, you should definitely read those first.
The latest novel continues some of the plot threads that were left off in the previous book. Mercy is the latest and only non-wolf member inducted into Adam’s pack, and in this book, she and Adam deal with the fallout as other pack members interfere with the mate bond and undermine the pack’s power structure. In the meantime, Samuel’s terminal self pity finally comes to a head as his wolf takes control and puts them all in danger. A third plot strand involves a book that a dangerous fae queen wants to take from Mercy by any means necessary.
The way Briggs handles these intersecting plot strands has some of my favorite scenes yet, as Mercy and Adam negotiate and strengthen their relationship, and deal with threats both internal and external. And while Samuel’s happy ending seemed a bit abrupt and a bit of a deus ex machina as well, I was glad to see some resolution to his story line. Ultimately, this was a really satisfying read for me, with action that was genuinely exciting, emotionally intense and romantic scenes, and a bit of humor that leavened the darker elements of the plot.
The Dilettante Reader 